“….in the original it’s almost playful, and in this version it’s more like a heroin addiction….”

Variety‘s Tim Greiving has written an article focusing on song covers created specially to market certain films, within which Ms. Grey‘s cover of Robert Palmer‘s “Addicted to Love”, recorded for the 2014 remake of the film Endless Love, is mentioned in detail.

Check out the first half of the feature article below (as well as the official audio for Ms. Grey’s cover), and click the article title below to read it in full!

Re-imagined Covers of Familiar Tunes | Variety ::“….a creepy lullaby rendition of Disney’s classic “Once Upon a Dream,” a grungy version of Ben E. King’s feel-good “Stand by Me,” and a brooding interpretation of Robert Palmer’s bouncy ’80s anthem “Addicted to Love” all exemplify a growing trend: songs creatively covered and “trailer-ized” to market movies.

“Trailer music supervisors are being asked for ‘something that everybody knows that no one’s ever heard before,’ ” says Steven Stern, VP of custom music production house APM Music. “They’re trying to reach a broad market, so they need songs everybody knows across demographics, but it needs to be fresh, relate to the kids, and work for the film.”

Covering a familiar song cashes in on whatever emotional or cultural currency the song has, but gives it a loaded or ironic subtext paired with images from the marketed film.

Skylar Grey, a young singer-songwriter who co-wrote Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie,” was approached by her record label, Interscope, to alter the meaning of “Addicted to Love” for a trailer for this year’s youth romance “Endless Love.”

“Darker, creepier, and sexier,” is how Grey describes the cover. “The lyrics can be taken as creepy if it’s done that way. In the original it’s almost playful, and in this version it’s more like a heroin addiction.”

Fueled by technological advances and a competitive market among trailer houses, the value of unique, tailored music has risen significantly….”